

Project Sarasota: LGBTQ History
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Florida Governor Reubin Askew signs bill to ban gays from marriage and adopting children in Florida.

Democrats become the first major political party to endorse a homosexual rights platform


Florida Amendment 2 passes which defines marriage as "a union only between one man and one woman".

The Venice City Council unanimously passes nondiscrimination protections, including protections for LGBT individuals.

Then Governor Farris Bryant selected Sarasota to host an eight-county education forum on "homosexual criminals".

In One, Inc. v. Olesen, the U S Supreme Court rules in favor of the First Amendment rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) magazine.

“The Purple Pamphlet” was published by the FL Investigative Committee with intent to persuade the state legislature to adopt anti-homosexual laws.
JAN 1958
MAR 1962

Local package alcohol store, "Dixie Lee's", includes anti-gay sentiments in advertisements in the Sarasota News.
MAY 1962

Charlie's Newsstand in Sarasota was fined $200 for "selling and possessing obscene literature" which contained themes of "homosexuality".